EQUITIES
Foreigners sell more shares
Foreign investors last week sold a net NT$107.81 billion (US$3.63 million) in local shares after selling a net NT$41.45 billion a week earlier, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said in a statement yesterday. As of Friday, foreign investors had sold NT$890.04 billion in local shares since the beginning of the year, the exchange said. The top three shares sold by foreign investors last week were United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), Yuanta Financial Holding Co (元大金控) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), while the top three shares bought by foreign investors were Innolux Corp (群創光電), CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控) and Unimicron Technology Corp (欣興電子), it said. As of Friday, the market capitalization of shares held by foreign investors was NT$19.61 trillion, or 40.34 percent of total market capitalization, it said.
FINANCIAL SERVICES
Hotai signs ‘green’ deal
Hotai Finance Co (和潤企業), a vehicle loans and insurance service unit of Hotai Motor Co (和泰汽車), yesterday signed a sustainability-linked loan deal with 18 banks with the aim of promoting green energy investment and achieving net zero carbon emissions. The three-year, NT$15 billion syndicated loans were led by CTBC Bank (中國信託銀行), Hotai Finance said, adding that it has inked NT$24 billion in sustainability-linked loans over the past two years.
JAPAN
School plans for TSMC kids
An international school in Japan plans to build additional space to accommodate an expected influx of Taiwanese students when Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) completes a new factory in Kumamoto Prefecture, a news report said. When TSMC begins mass production at its first plant in Japan in December 2024, about 600 Taiwanese employees and their families, including 150 schoolchildren, are expected move to Kumamoto, public broadcaster NHK reported on Friday. The international school would later this year begin to build a space of about 3,500m2, which it aims to complete by 2024, NHK said.
INSURANCE
Cathay launches eye policy
Cathay Life Insurance Co (國泰人壽) on Wednesday launched the nation’s first eye-related insurance policies as the number of Taiwanese affected by eye disease is rising due to increasing use of mobiles and electronic devices. The new product covers policyholders against four major eye-related conditions: cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration and retinal detachment, it said. The company said it would compensate policyholders once they need to have surgery. However, the new product would be only available to those aged between 40 and 70, it said.
STEELMAKERS
Ta Chen upbeat overall
Ta Chen Stainless Pipe Co (大成不銹鋼) yesterday said it remains positive about its business outlook in the long term, although it faces short-term headwinds due to fluctuations in raw material prices. Ta Chen said aggressive interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve would affect consumer demand in the near term, but would not have a significant impact on the company as it mainly focuses on engineering, infrastructure and industrial markets. The US market accounts for nearly 80 percent of the firm’s total sales. Shareholders yesterday approved the firm’s NT$1.9 per share in dividend distribution, with a payout ratio of 32.99 percent based on last year’s earnings per share of NT$5.76.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
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